Marvin’s Best Weekly Reads Oct 25th, 2026
"We have two lives, and the second one begins when we realize we only have one." - Confucius
This was an educational discussion on modern drone war from the CEO of Swarmer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc8rIx1IgR4
2. This was an excellent and important conversation. Founder of Helsing, the leading defensetech companies in Europe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OduvOCrVpgo
3. Fact filled summary of how the Chinese economy works. Hypercompetition. Why Chinese companies dominate (at least for a while). Explanation of Involution.
Fascinating.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgYKVpOsMJs&t=2s
4. Drone war is terrifying. Learning from one of the top Ukrainian experts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDD6cvHhNeU
5."We have entered what Nicolas Colin calls the Late Cycle Investment Theory, i.e. the maturity phase of the computing and networks revolution, our equivalent of the 1970s in the age of oil, automobiles, and mass production. The startup funding collapse of 2022 was not merely cyclical but structural. AI breakthroughs come from massively capitalized entities, not garage startups. The fog of uncertainty that characterized earlier technological phases has lifted. Optimization, not disruption, becomes the focus.
In Colin’s words: “The future doesn’t belong to software eating the world. It belongs to manufacturing eating software, embedding intelligence into the physical world.”
As we consume the final phases of the current technological cycle, a new phase is emerging—one in which the industrial dimension of the economy is being completely redefined. I call this the Neo Industrial Age: a period in which the foundation of industrial infrastructure built in the 19th and early 20th centuries is being completely rebuilt utilizing the deep tech approach to innovation.
The geopolitical context makes this urgent. China has outmanufactured the West. The world is fragmenting. Ongoing wars have upended the meaning and role of technology in conflict. We are witnessing a transition from “Petrostates to Electrostates“ and what Packy McCormick terms “the Electric Slide“, a fundamental shift in how energy powers civilization."
https://neoindustrial.substack.com/p/the-neo-industrial-age-what-comes
6. 3 generations of VCs talking shop in Silicon Valley. This is my favorite weekly show. I always learn a crap ton.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_JlQm8DB80
7."Homer’s Odyssey, like the man it describes, has “many ways.” Already in its introduction or proem, the poem raises its themes, including intelligence, politics, suffering, and ultimately homecoming. Odysseus is a paradigm case of man dislocated from civilization, defined not by his rank or even his martial virtues such as his courage, but by the versatile, shifting use of his mind to overcome the challenges before him. The questions the poem poses unfold into an implicit anthropology: Who are you? How does your identity depend on where you are from? What are your obligations to a stranger, and what are the limits of those obligations?
The Odyssey is foundational to Western culture because it conveys a critical framework for understanding what man is: a mortal being situated between the beasts and gods, dependent on inherited bonds while capable of judging them, responsible for action even as he is exposed to forces beyond his control. The central lesson of the poem is that entropy is always at work, and civilization must be actively recovered through memory, intelligence, strength, and the striving for return. The importance of this lesson increases as modernity weakens the bonds constitutive of identity. To read the Odyssey well is to receive an education in the habits of mind needed for governance, including the ability to improvise beyond prior experience, command of speech and persuasion, and strategic concealment and timing.
Civilizations decline and sometimes collapse. The Bronze Age Mycenaeans did so dramatically, as did many of their neighbors in the 12th century B.C., and others before and since. To sustain itself or recover from decline, a civilization must repeatedly recover authority from chaos, obligation from appetite, and true names that have been hidden. The Odyssey relentlessly points forward, showing that every future worth building relies on human excellences that cannot be devised from scratch. Odysseus turned away from the life of the gods to fight his way back to Ithaca, a poor and rugged kingdom, to build it anew. It is best to live in a civilization that is vibrant and expansive. When we do not, the second best is to battle all the way home."
https://letter.palladiummag.com/p/battling-all-the-way-home
8."It’s no secret that America has a weapons production problem.
On August 5, Deputy Secretary of War Steve Feinberg lit a fire under industry to solve this problem. He sent a memo to industry leaders giving them 21 days to submit plans to “drive significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production for critical capabilities. . . .Years-long development cycles are not acceptable. We must dramatically accelerate our program schedules and expand our production capacity now.”
Here at First Breakfast, we put the question to some of our favorite doers in the industry: If you had free reign to fix America’s munitions bottleneck, what would you propose?"
https://www.firstbreakfast.com/p/getting-creative-about-the-munitions
9. Understanding global macro and what's happening with the Fed and the US economy. The AI tech cycle doesn't stop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1CY09CypqU
10."The atrocity underscores the Russian military's new approach to ground warfare as Russia's wider war on Ukraine grinds through its 54th month. An army that once counted on its own artillery to suppress enemy artillery in order to allow mechanized forces to advance now uses precision bombs, small cruise missiles, tiny drones, and, yes, some artillery to suppress the Ukrainian drone teams that represent the main obstacle to a swift Russian advance.
And when the Russian firepower manages to suppress Ukrainian drone operators, allowing small teams of infantry to advance, the infantry's objective is often to take out the same drone operators whose suppression was a necessary pre-condition of any successful assault.
In short, the Ukrainians largely defend with drones. That means the Russians are fixated on first striking the drone teams in order to prevent them from launching their tiny lethal robots—and then, when they can, assaulting the drone teams' positions in order to capture or kill them. Or capture then kill them, as reportedly happened in Druzhkivka."
https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/08/27/new-way-of-war/
11.Michael Every and the rise of Neo-Mercantilism. The world is changing and he does one of the best analysis of geopolitical events and their implications.
Net net: USA still well positioned and supply chains will be disrupted in this transition, which is positive for commodities.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNPCzV_1vFQ
12.Thai-American hospitality billionaire. Learned some stuff here. Man is bullish on Asia: China, Indonesia and India. He made his fortune on this bet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvlh3dZijFY&t=232s
13."In every domain, mass is either already dead, as in media, society, and politics, or dying, as in markets and war, under the inexorable pressure of a technological phase shift beyond incremental improvement to a whole new platform. For example, by primary technological driver:
Networks shattered the stability of mass in media, society, and politics.
AI is shattering mass in markets.
Robotics (or embodied AI) is shattering mass in warfare.
This delusion, amplified by the stress of institutional collapse and the chaos of fragmented public discourse, makes it nearly impossible for us to adapt to a future remade by networks, AI, and robotics."
https://johnrobb.substack.com/p/the-end-of-mass
14.A deep dive into the VC investing powerhouse that is Sequoia Capital. This was really fun and educational.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8CBejLRztg&t=773s
15."And now that AI is on our doorstep, only those with an open mind (who do not identify with the “team” that fully rejects or embraces the next phase of evolution) will take advantage of this shift.
One person can now do what a 10-50 person team used to do, depending on the task. One person now has any and all known information at their fingertips. One person has access to social media (free distribution of their work).
If you are a true New Renaissance Man, this is the greatest time to be alive - and many people will try to convince you that the world is doomed.
AI can now handle the machine-like repetitive tasks that, for the past two centuries, used to be our entire way of life. People are so worried that AI will ruin our thinking and make us more like machines, when they’ve already been living like machines for the whole of their lives.
To those who join this Second Renaissance, your job is to choose your craft, leverage AI so that you can manage the entire operation, and focus on taste, direction, and judgment - because the output of AI does not have perspective. AI is simply that, artificial intelligence. Like a bag of water that you must mold."
https://letters.thedankoe.com/p/we-are-in-the-middle-of-the-digital
16."Even if the timing is now right, AI today is cluttered, busy and crowded, with too many people chasing the same models, the same benchmarks and the same narrative. In that noise, doing things differently gets you questioned."
https://2lr.substack.com/p/timing-attitude-and-discernment
17.Some Alt-Geonomics and Geopolitics. Honestly not sure what to think but it makes me think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkvdfR7LTuU
18."Remember you’re being read even when you’re not in the room. The valley, and New York especially, is insanely small. If you tell a fund you have a term sheet from someone, it’s literally a text away. VC is a co-opetition, everyone talks to everyone. It’s why all decks leak and news spreads like wildfire. Don’t lie, and don’t share anything you don’t want shared. Even if the upstanding VC keeps it close, another one won’t.
And vibes are really important, maybe more than any of this. Be you. Showcase what you’re excited by and highlight where you need help (we thrive on helping). You can play the silly game of negging and acting like someone you’re not, but trust me, it works far less than you think. Hype can buy you eyeballs and attention. It’s not the end all be all.
Finally, this market will read you top to bottom and still get it wrong. Even the best companies struggled to raise a round. Look at Anthropic. So if you’re not in a hot sector, strap in. Share what makes you a great contrarian bet, because everyone is trying to balance their portfolio and you never know where you’ll find a champion, even if you strike out with the top 100 firms. Figure out your default alive path. Valuation markers will come and go, and a brand and a big number are nice for the ego. What matters is fuel in the tank to keep your ambition high.
All it takes is one yes."
https://writing.nikunjk.com/p/being-legible-to-capital
19.This was enlightening. Doug Leone is an OG investor legend. Damn. This dude is intense and nuts but in a good way. It shows that pain leads to growth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR9NI51D7ek
20."You could think of this as an analyst employee on the team, but again, constantly monitoring everything, constantly analyzing, constantly doing research, and then making it all actionable and feeding it up to me on a silver platter with minimal effort.
Entrepreneurs would do well to experiment with Grok Bot, start using their own AI employees, think through the rest of the team having AI as a team member, and implement this into the daily workflow."
https://davidcummings.org/2026/08/29/building-my-first-ai-team/
21."To be a gentleman is not simply to dress well or speak with polish, it is to live with integrity and intention.
A true gentleman:
Takes responsibility for his actions, outcomes, and emotions.
Refuses to play the victim unless genuine harm has been done.
Focuses on what he can control and lets the rest go.
Embraces agency and leads himself before he leads others.
This mindset will not only earn you respect, it will give you freedom. When you own your life, no one can take it from you.
Responsibility is not just a duty. It is the foundation of manhood and the very soul of the gentleman."
https://thewaysofagentleman.substack.com/p/the-gentleman-and-the-power-of-responsibility-a70
22."The blatant corruption on display in the US right now, the extraction, the captured institutions, the refuge in audacity, isn't a glitch in the two-party system. It's what that system produces once the restraints have worn thin and everyone involved knows the window might be closing."
https://frankgiustra.com/refuge-in-audacity/
23."So which assets am I most bullish on going forward?
Bitcoin. Gold. Land.
Those are going to be the three assets that should outperform the productive assets in the public equities market. The money printer is just warming up. The hard assets built to insulate you from the money printer will show up and do their job. So you don’t have to overthink this one.
I want a portfolio filled with resilient assets that are optimized for the long-term. Assets that go up significantly when politicians do what they are incentivized to do. Quite literally, I want to hold the things that politicians are likely to inflate.
You can choose your own mix or allocation diversification between these three assets. But just make sure you have exposure. Because a 0% allocation to bitcoin, gold, and land is going to be a bad answer in the coming years."
https://pomp.substack.com/p/bitcoin-gold-land
24.“As a first time founder, how do you develop conviction in an idea?”
I got this question earlier on a call. It’s a good one. The instinct is to do a lot of diligence. Technical, market, financial. I don’t think this is right.
My advice? Find the five smartest people you know, and try to convince them to join your quest."
https://www.alsoblogposts.com/p/how-to-build-conviction
25.You will always learn something from these conversations: Global macro but from a technology and crypto angle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjJxrTal_Sk&t=404s
26."Trying to make sense of this is not easy or even possible. But the fact remains that the war is five years old, Russia has taken only a very small part of Ukraine, and Ukraine shows no signs of collapse. Bearing in mind that the rumors mentioned are just rumors and not facts, if Putin knows what is going on and is not under internal threat, then he knows the war must end, and that he can increase drone and missile launches, but that would not force Ukraine to surrender.
What is left to do is to seem to threaten the Baltic states, and to convince the West that he is about to force them into a war they don’t want. This is purely speculative, but if Putin wants out of Ukraine – which he should at this point – the appearance of escalation gives him an advantage in future negotiations."
https://geopoliticalfutures.com/an-attempt-to-understand-a-strange-visit-to-moscow/
27."Trying to make sense of this is not easy or even possible. But the fact remains that the war is five years old, Russia has taken only a very small part of Ukraine, and Ukraine shows no signs of collapse. Bearing in mind that the rumors mentioned are just rumors and not facts, if Putin knows what is going on and is not under internal threat, then he knows the war must end, and that he can increase drone and missile launches, but that would not force Ukraine to surrender.
What is left to do is to seem to threaten the Baltic states, and to convince the West that he is about to force them into a war they don’t want. This is purely speculative, but if Putin wants out of Ukraine – which he should at this point – the appearance of escalation gives him an advantage in future negotiations."
https://geopoliticalfutures.com/an-attempt-to-understand-a-strange-visit-to-moscow/
28."Partisan criticisms notwithstanding, Lorch’s OSC has penned many creative deals prior to Friday’s bombshell. Among the efforts now officially backed by the Pentagon are advanced battery-materials production, critical drone components, rare-earth-free magnet production, rare-earth mining, rare-earth processing, and more rare-earth processing.
The Venezuelan OSC gambit is on another level, and its long-term success will depend, at least in part, on whether enough risk capital is keen to sidecar the Pentagon on the adventure. Here, a critical factor is being overlooked by many: Sure, the supermajors might still be in wait-and-see mode, but there are hundreds of billions of dollars in committed investment capital from US allies on the sidelines, waiting to be deployed to help restore America’s military-manufacturing foundations."
https://newsletter.doomberg.com/p/with-american-characteristics
29."Wouldn’t it be interesting if our leading universities and policymakers were to take a page from Mr. Buffett’s playbook and try deepening our existing partnership with countries who have superior technology to China while also sharing our values and interests? Japan’s investing another $500bln in us. Shouldn’t we at least consider investing in them before opening the door to a country whose envoy to Tokyo recently called for the head of Japan’s Prime Minister and who works around the clock to undermine our global influence while poisoning our domestic politics?"
https://japanoptimist.substack.com/p/the-us-benefits-more-from-bringing
30."Here is an uncomfortable question. If someone adds $0 to the revenue line, $0 to the profit line and does not contribute to the product being sold (at all) why should this person accumulate wealth?
Not a fun thing to say publicly (definitely don’t do that) ask it to yourself privately and make your own conclusions.
The way the world works now? If you are providing a service/product that improves the lives of people, you get rewarded 5x more than you did 10-20 years ago. Is that a bad thing? As you can see, we’re suggesting it isn’t a bad thing. It is only bad if you have no interest in creating a product/service that is of value to American people."
https://bowtiedbull.io/p/working-harder-for-someone-else-is
31.An interview with Palmer Luckey of Anduril. AI & the future of war.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CAbZRpy4tQ
32.It's a strange time to be in venture capital. I will listen to this one a few times. Sarah Guo is running one of the top new VC funds and this was a good dissection of her thought process that was super instructive to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY6S__xeCjg&t=1652s
33."I hadn’t internalized just how prevalent these changes have been until I was on those calls last week. As I spoke with each of the founders, I found myself subconsciously (and not-so-subconsciously) noticing a variety of tells that made clear that they were not based in the Bay Area. An observation that my mind immediately translated to, “they’re not going fast enough.”
https://chrisneumann.com/archives/before-you-start-fundraising-you-need-to-get-acclimated
34.One of the greats of venture capital. Insight dense conversation on investing in top tier founders and GPs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kff-QzWprbI
35."So, this debate about whether or not Warsh will change rates in the short term is irrelevant if you plan to be invested for more than the next several months. It’s especially irrelevant if you’re not a short term bond trader.
What’s relevant is whether or not the world will trust the US.
Despite the many arguments that the US is going to collapse, we’re still the healthiest horse in the glue factory.
As Treasury Secretary Bessent mentioned yesterday, the US has the best performing bond market in the world.
It’s all relative.
And this interest rate debate is mostly a huge distraction.
Inflation is built into our global economic system. Whatever a central bank does, or doesn’t do, the money you hold is going to lose value in the long term.
So, own assets. That’s the trade. The market will go up, along with everything else."
https://www.codyshirk.com/p/autistic-bond-traders-in-the-glue